Getting Ready For War: Pentagon Boosts Military Cooperation With Azerbaijan

Baku: Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev has today received a delegation headed by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs of the U.S. Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, the Defense Ministry said today.

Stressing the development of bilateral relations in various spheres between Azerbaijan and the U.S., the minister discussed the positive results achieved in the field of military cooperation.

He updated the guest on the military-political situation in the region and the causes of the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stressed that the unresolved conflict keeps the entire region under threat.

Views on the relations in the defense field were widely expressed during the meeting.

During the meeting, Hicks expressed satisfaction with Azerbaijan’s participation in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and joint activity in the fight against terrorism. She stressed that the U.S intend to continue strategic cooperation with Azerbaijan on several issues.

The U.S Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar also attended the meeting.

Azerbaijan will spend USD 3.7 billion for military purposes. In 2012, Azeri military expenditure was USD 3 billion.

In his speech at a government meeting on January 15th, President Ilham Alyev said Armenia is blocking peaceful negotiations over Karabakh…Azerbaijan will use all possible means to continue the isolation of Armenia. It will include political, economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Armenia.

“By increasing military expenses Azerbaijan threatens not only the Karabakh–Azerbaijani contact line, but also the Caspian Sea region,” said Tigran Abrahamyan, expert in political issues, commenting on the statement on Panorama.am that the military budget of Azerbaijan has increased by 700 million dollars compared with the previous year.

According to him, while studying the list of armaments and equipment Azerbaijan imports, it becomes clear that the expenses for its naval-military forces grow too. This means that this country has launched a serious struggle against Caspian Sea countries (mainly Iran and Turkmenistan).

“The growth of the Azerbaijani military budget is a great threat for the peace and stability of the region, which will surely have a negative effect over the negotiation processes. The threats of the Azerbaijani president and the military expenses there make it clear that this country is getting ready for war. These intentions show that the adventurism implemented by this country can make the situation uncontrollable,” T. Abrahamyan said.

To the question what step will Armenia undertake in that case, the expert noted, “The security guarantor of our country is our army and Armenia should do everything to increase the efficiency of our armed forces. It is not by chance that Armenia is importing modern military hardware, but also it promotes the development of military industry, creates corresponding infrastructures.”

To the question what will the reaction of the international community be about the abovementioned developments, T. Abrahamyan mentioned, “The international community and the power centers should increase pressure over Azerbaijan, which can be presented both by roughly criticizing Azerbaijan in reports and by limiting the sell-out of military hardware.”

According to him when Armenia states on the highest level that the only way to settle the NKR conflict is through peaceful negotiation, that doesn’t mean that Armenia is not ready for war or doesn’t consider it as a second variant of solving the conflict.

“It was not by chance that the RA [Republic of Armenia] president stated at the RPA Convention that the RA armed forces will not be engaged in exhausting and passive defense as they will be able to keep the region in security due to their mobility and efficiency. This also speaks about the fact that the efficiency of Armenian forces allows them to develop military operations on the territory of Azerbaijan and to force them a final peace,” summed up T. Abrahamyan.

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The USA is determined that every effort will be made to ensure conflict into the foreseeable future. No money is needed for alleviating poverty, environmental degradation or anything but violence, making enemies and isolating anyone who disagrees. Poor Armenia!!!!